A discussion about the use of typography in signage that we face everyday.

Monday, May 28, 2012

List of thypefaces used for signage worldwide

ANWB Cc – condensed road typeface used in the Netherlands, based on FHWA Series C. It is used mainly on finger posts

ANWB Dd – slightly condensed road typeface used in the Netherlands, which has been introduced in 2010

ANWB Ee – commonly used road typeface in the Netherlands, based on FHWH Series E(M)

ANWB Uu – new road typeface used in the Netherlands, designed by Gerard Unger

Austria – road typeface used in Austria

Brunel – created on behalf of Railtrack for use in British railway stations by David Quay, Freda Sack, also in use on Delhi Metro

Brusseline – developed for Brussels’ public transport company

Calvert – developed for the Tyne and Wear Metro by Margaret Calvert

Carretera – developed for the General Directorate of Highways in Turkey

Casey – developed by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation for its own use

Clearview – developed to replace U.S. Federal Highway Administration typefaces

DIN 1451 – the German transport typeface

Drogowskaz – the Polish transport typeface

Esseltub – earlier used in Stockholm Metro

FIP signage typeface - a modified version of Helvetica Medium used by the Government of Canada

FF Meta – used in Stockholm Metro

Frutiger – used on Swiss road signs, across the public transport network of Oslo, Norway, by the Dutch National Railways, BAA Airports in the UK, and in UK’s National Health Service

FHWA Series fonts – sometimes called Highway Gothic. Developed for U.S. road signage, and also used in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and New Zealand

Futura BSK – used by Italian railways

Gill Sans – used by British Railways until 1965

Helvetica – used in the New York City Subway system, the Chicago Transit Authority system, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority system, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority system, and in the Madrid Metro; formerly used in Hong Kong’s MTR and Stockholm Metro

Helvetica Neue – used for road signs in Hong Kong

Johnston – used by Transport for London

LTA Identity Typeface - used by Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit

Metrolis – custom designed font for the 1995 rebranding of Metropolitano de Lisboa, designed by the Foundry

Motorway – used for motorway route numbers in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland

Myriad – used on Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway

NPS Rawlinson – used by the United States National Park Service

Parisine – used in the Paris Métro

Pragmatica – used in the Saint Petersburg Metro since 2002; currently is being replaced by Freeset, Cyrillic variation of Frutiger

Rail Alphabet – designed for British Rail in 1964 and still in use on parts of the UK rail network. Rail Alphabet is also still in use across the Danish rail network and its principle operator, DSB.

Rotis Semi Sans – used by its own creator, Otl Aicher, for the Metro Bilbao corporate design.